Sword Art Online: Full Plate
by Ignus the VII
Summary: A lone player recruited by a small guild confronts the second year of being in Sword Art Online, a death game where the players within are starting to become more dangerous than the monsters themselves. They will have to learn to trust one another if they are to survive to a seemingly impossible conclusion: The end of the game. Still in the wings, and my first FF, so please R&R
1. Chapter 1: Balance

_It's been one year since I've started Sword Art Online, the death game that imprisoned ten thousand players such as myself to a fate of clearing the game. While it was a video game, death in the game meant death in the real world._

_Reality seems so distant now. While we are in a virtual reality ourselves, we all know that it's not true, that we were actually in hospital beds, living on life support. And yet, at the same time, it oddly was. Death meant death. The people inside were still human beings. The only thing that had truly changed was the dimensions by which we lived and died._

_Me? I'm just a player who read the manual too much. I knew how to work the system to the point that I could make it on my own, like many other solo players. But I realized that being alone was too dangerous for such a game like this, where players started to turn more dangerous than the monsters that were generated by the game._

_Today is the first day I work with the Full Plate Guild. They are an odd group, but with me, we form a full, functioning party of six._

_The night I was approached by their leader was a night that I would never forget._

* * *

><p>Lancelot looked down his prospect. It was strange how much of a loner his prospect seemed, but nevertheless, he was surprised. Being on the 45th floor was no mean task, especially when one was alone. His group was actually still on the 35th floor, trying to get everyone up to par, but Lancelot didn't go to level up himself. He was here for a different reason entirely. He mustered his courage, and took a few steps towards the player, and sat himself at the table the player was sitting at.<p>

"You seem lonely. Can I have a chat?"

Absurd, how much a little courage could turn into the easiness that he approached people with. If his fearlessness was an in game aspect, Lancelot thanked whatever programmer thought it necessary to incorporate it. The player responded, looking up from his meal.

"... Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

Lancelot locked eyes with the man, and looked him down. He was young, but he had a very focused stance. Dressed in a midnight blue tunic with red edges, the seemingly average player seemed a little more slight than usual. His sword was a one handed weapon, leaning against the table. It didn't have an elaborate hilt, but he knew not to judge a sword by it's cross guard. Lancelot had been observing this player, Dyna, for sometime now, but observations could only take a man so far.

"I saw that you put up an ad to join a guild on the 30th floor, and yet here you are, all alone. I haven't seen anyone really get with you. I want to talk about you, specifically, but first I want to know why a player like yourself hasn't found a party to join."

The player seemed a little surprised, and took a moment to compose himself. After a moment, he slide his meal to the side. His posture suggested that it was a long story.

"Well... the only companionship I ever found was in the beta manual. I was new to games in general, so I wanted to get as much done as possible, but for the first few floors, I was afraid of dying."

Lancelot nodded in understanding. In the first few weeks, there was no one who had a real answer to the game becoming reality, and so the people did the only thing they could; play the game. Those who were truly committed were quickly weeded out, and soon people began to form massive guilds that covered people's needs in society. Some guilds were formed for the purpose of clearing the game, while others formed to make living within the game as safe as possible. Lancelot personally wanted to clear the game, because people weren't immortal. Sooner or later, they would all perish, and Lancelot wanted that day to be in the real world, surrounded by friends.

"Understandable. But here you are, on the front lines."

The player returned his nod, and continued.

"I wanted to be strong enough to survive, and so I lived solely to farm monsters for the past year. I think a lot of people have seen me as power hungry, so that has acted as a general repellant... And sir, the majority have proclaimed me a beater."

Lancelot remained unmoved.

"Are you?"

Affronted, Dyna grit his teeth.

"Absolutely not! I just know everything that the betas know!"

After attracting the gaze of many patrons, the player shied away as the attention centered on him. Lancelot saw this, and noted it.

". . . I believe you. And I want to ask you a question. Do you want to join my party? We're in need of a member, and I think you fit the bill."

Lancelot had a good feeling about this player, Dyna. While it seemed that he didn't have very good people skills, he had a true heart. How did he know? He didn't, aside from the vibe Dyna showed. Dyna was silent for a minute, but then said.

"Well... don't you need more information?"

Lancelot held out his hand and gave a sweeping gesture.

"Anything you deem important."

Dyna squirmed for a small while under Lancelot's gaze, but he stood for a moment, mentally coaxing himself, and when he was ready, he talked. He spoke of what he specialized in, and what Lancelot needed to know, and soon, they were two gamers, talking down the details of the game that they needed to know about each other. For some time, they seemed like any other patrons at the tavern, and the afternoon turned into the evening. By the end of it, they seemed like good friends, and Lancelot stood up, his business almost done. As he walked away, he turned.

"Y'know... you never said whether or not you wanted to join."

Dyna shifted, and and not facing Lancelot, he seemed to have a personal conflict. Nodding slowly, he turned.

"... I might."

Lancelot acknowledged the response with smile, and sent a brief message via PM system. He wrote 'Floor 35, across the street from church house.', and said "Come if you decide. We'd love to have you as a friend."

With that said, the party leader walked out, and went his way.

* * *

><p>Dyna approached the house with a knot in his gut. This was his first time ever approaching a party, and since the beginning, he had viewed them as people who ganged up to gain advantages over those who had no allies. Sure, teamwork was handy, but the player wasn't good with people, even when he was trying to survive the death game.<p>

For a moment, Dyna seriously considered turning back. Lancelot would understand, right? Shaking his head, he pushed the self doubt away, if only momentarily. He was a player of his word. He had promised that he would go here, and so he would be here. He strode forward, and knocked on the door, hoping that Lancelot would be there. Instead, another answered the door.

He was a sturdily built man, slightly shorter than his visitor. Dressed all in black, with a yellow stripe going around his midriff, the player had multiple knives hanging from his belt, and the symbol of a snake curled around the sleeves. He had a grim countenance, and Dyna felt intimidated once more by the seemingly sour look that this player gave him as he asked

"Didn't I tell you guys that I wasn't interested in your silly Army? Well, I guess that since you're a messenger, then I'll have to give you a message you won't forget!"

Dyna was too slow to react as the player grabbed him bodily, and threw him into the house. Crashing into a couch, he looked around dazedly and saw three others in the house, looking at him. He didn't have long before his aggressor pursued him once more, and he fired a dart at him. While he was in a safe zone, and therefore couldn't take damage from other players, the dart had a on hit effect that inflicted paralysis. Freezing up, Dyna couldn't move as the player attacking him picked him up bodily and started to slap him around more, saying "Hah! I bet it doesn't feel so good being under somebody's order now! But what are you going to do, bo- Hey!"

He shouted as he was picked up by the scruff of his cloak by another man. He was large, easily the strongest player in the room. He wore no armor, but he kept his sword at his back, a large two handed weapon that looked immensely difficult to use. Wearing a loose, black shirt with tan pants, the expression on his face one of annoyance as he held up his companion.

"BlackAsp, please hold your judgement for our guest. And sit yourself down, for heaven's sake."

The voice belonged to a female player, dressed in oriental robes, with a katana belted to her left side. Her dark hair was let down, and she had a calm aura about her. Next to her was a player with all of her armor on, but her helmet was off, revealing a youthful face. Her hair was kept short, and had a pin through it to keep it out of her face, which seemed just as surprised as Dyna's frozen expression was.

BlackAsp seemed put out after he struggled in the larger player's grasp, but he gave a look of contempt and folded his arms.

"C'mon, Tys, you're no fun. Lance would have let me keep going until I got bored."

The larger player spoke up, his voice as gruff as his appearance.

"That's the third one this month you've terrorized. It's getting old. . . But it is funny..."

Tys narrowed her eyes at the larger player, and they locked gazes, fighting for dominance. The large player sighed, and looked away as the swords woman spoke again.

"Lancelot is busy, so I'm in charge. He said that a new player was coming in. Is that you?"

Dyna couldn't answer. There was still a few seconds left on his paralysis effect. BlackAsp snickered, and Tys blushed from embarrassment of the question that hung in the air. The door opened once more to admit Lancelot, who was dressed in white armor with grey trimming. He carried many food related items, and he looked at the scene, and merely commented as he brushed by everyone.

"Ah, it seems you are all meeting Dyna. Introduce yourselves, if you will."

The large player spoke first.

"My name is Rockblade. I'm the main DPS of the group."

He set down BlackAsp, who folded his arms in defiance, but he spoke anyway.

"I'm BlackAsp, if you haven't gotten it already. I'm a more... technical fighter. Watch your back."

As he turned and left for his room, the swordswoman sighed, as if this was a very regular occurrence.

"You'll have to forgive him. He's very... impulsive, and so it'll take time for him to warm up to you. My name is Tysandra. I'm also a DPS."

She nodded, and sat down. Only the girl in the armor remained. Dyna imagined that she would have a tough sounding voice, but what came out instead forced him to do a double take.

"H-Hi. My name is Alana."

Her voice was soft, and even timid. At Dyna's stare, she squirmed and walked away, trying to avoid his gaze. Dyna looked away, embarrassed. Thankfully, Lancelot came back.

"Alright, Dyna. Show us what you can do."

Dyna stood up, free of the paralysis. He pulled out his sword, a blade of dark blue that had a burning red hilt. He opened his menu, and his stats came up. He started to present himself.

"I was a solo player, and so I had to be very balanced in order to live. I have higher agility, but I can deal damage quickly, and I'm fast enough to cover anyone who'll need help. I will admit that I don't have a lot of experience fighting in a party, but I hope I can learn quickly."

Surprisingly, Rockblade was the first with a question.

"What makes you more than another sword wielder? When there's trouble with other players, can we depend on you?"

Dyna stared straight into the player's face. He just had to tell him what he told Lancelot last night.

"In my experience, guilds were formed by players who wanted advantages over other players. I saw how other players were too afraid to help anyone troubled by guilds, because to the guilds, any one person who interfered with their business were simply just another set of stats against them, and any solo player would at least have some good items. Groups of players are capable of more evil than any single person. So, as I join you, I want to be able to keep that evil from happening. Can you depend off of me? Absolutely. I am dedicated to my cause."

At first Rockblade didn't react, as if he was taking in what the new player had just said. But then a wide smile spilt itself across his face, and he guffawed.

"Hah! Looks like you've picked up an idealist, Lance! I like you, Dyna. You're an honest guy."

Sitting down, he continued to chuckle. Neither Tysandra nor Alana had anymore questions, seeing how their friend had already taken the truly important ones. The silence reigned for a small while, until Lancelot cleared his throat, calling the attention to himself.

"I have an announcement to make, now that we are all here, idealists and all."

Everyone peered at their leader, interested.

"We will spend as long as it takes to get everyone up to level 60, and then we are going on to the next floor, where we will spend two weeks on each floor, getting more levels and equipment as we go. I plan to be a clearing party from now on."

Instantly there was a hodgepodge of reactions, most prominently Tysandra and Rockblade. Dyna was too surprised to really react, and Lancelot held up his hands in a disarming gesture, and the room receded back into silence.

"I know this is sudden, but Dyna is already at level 63, and you, Rock, are only at 53, and you're our most powerful member as of yesterday. If the entire party is at level 60, then we can move past the next few floors and get us closer to the front line."

Tysandra came back with a seething reply.

"Is that's what's important to you? Being on the front line? Think about us, Lance! We could stay here, and make a living here. We're already the highest level guild here."

Turning to the swordswoman, Lancelot locked eyes with her, refusing to compromise.

"That's what's worrying me. We are getting comfortable, and not making the growth we once did. Once we stop progressing, there are going to be higher level players that I can't protect anyone from. And the Army is trying to recruit us. If they fail, who knows who among the other guilds will decide that we will join them because they can bully us into doing so?"

Tysandra bit her lip in frustration, but nodded in agreement. Lancelot was their leader, so he could propose things like this. Rockblade stepped up in her place, trying to combat the change of plans.

"Things will only get harder as we go higher. What safety is there up there?"

Dyna spoke up.

"There will be fewer players. A lot of people are starting to give up trying to clear the game, and considering how close we're getting to floor 50, there's bound to be a hard boss, and now the only larger clearing guilds are trying. Less higher level players will be good if we're trying to avoid trouble with them."

The logic was sound, and everyone was quiet. The decision was clear. After some talking about how their home here would be sold and how far the funds would carry them, the sky was starting to descend into blackness. Dyna stayed relatively out of the conversation, as he was still quite new to the group, and he spoke only when he was asked about aspects about certain higher level floors. As he remained quiet, he looked at how the party interacted with each other.

Lancelot was a clear, decisive leader. He was hard on opposition, but gave his guild mates a clear voice in everything he proposed. His stance was one that would not give in, but Dyna thought he saw something else, and to him, Lancelot seemed to be bluffing somehow. But what would he have to bluff about?

Rockblade aggressively attacked the credibility of the plan, not to tear it down, but to improve it by putting it through a refiner's fire. He seemed to respect Lancelot beyond the fact that he was his leader, but it was unclear why.

Tysandra kept a focused stance, although her demeanor suggested otherwise as she was more submissive to Lancelot. Whether it was trust or blind obedience, no one could tell, but she still remained a voice of reason to mediate between the two men.

Alana was as quiet as Dyna was. She would nod along, and stick close to Lancelot. More than once, as Dyna looked her down, she would lock eyes with him briefly before they both looked away, and shift uncomfortably. Not a word she spake, and everyone seemed used to this fact.

The night waxed, and Dyna excused himself to the room that the party had prepared for him. While it was a temporary residence, the room was well presented, the closet full with different sets of armor. Recognizing Lancelot's armor type, Dyna noted that there was a set that sported the colors of the Knights of the Blood Oath, it's red edges contrasting the white sheen of the full plate. It was also a very low level set, from what Dyna knew of armor. There was a story there. He looked to see if there was anything else Lancelot had left out to suggest more of his character. Aside from the bed, there was a desk with a copy of the player's beta manual.

_Very funny, Lance._ Dyna thought as a smile curled up his cheeks.

Curious to see what was in the desk, Dyna allowed one look into one of it's drawers. Various pieces of paper lay scattered as charcoal sticks rolled to the end of the drawer, clacking quietly against the wood.

One piece of paper was a Venn diagram, with multiple circles overlapping each other. Upon further inspection, Dyna saw that there was all of the members of the guild had a corresponding circle, and his name had been added. He didn't dare disturb the paper, as Lancelot might see that it had been moved, but it piqued Dyna's mind, and he wanted to know more about what the leader of the Full Plate Guild thought about him. But he was on shaky ground, being as new as he was, so he closed the drawer.

Undressing himself, he collapsed onto the bed. The interview had been exhausting, and Dyna never let himself have a relaxing day. He had a daily routine of grinding for levels, one that had taken most of the morning, and some of the afternoon. He considered himself lucky that he had found the headquarters when he did, instead of getting lost in the city whose layout he had already forgotten since his time there.

Despite how tired he was, the excitement of recent events kept him up, pestering him until he was too tired to even think. It had been a day of firsts.

First guild.

First interview.

First time being paralyzed.

First time falling asleep in a place other than an inn from long hours of leveling.

Sleep came quickly.


	2. Chapter 2: Secrets

_It's strange, this journal. Call it an outlet to keep my sanity, but when you think about it, I'll really be the only person to read this if we never get out of this game. I don't imagine there will be a future generation of gamers who would willingly enter SAO._

_Anyway, I can't put my charcoal down. I had a strange feeling, after I came to the guild house to rest again. It seems that this party is like a family, and I feel like I don't belong. I'm unused to the genuine trust everyone shows for each other, because even in the real world, even before I had SAO, I was a loner. Call me an introvert and I wouldn't mind. But things are different now, and I'm going to have to change my ways if I need to stay in this group._

_Today, these people got more real for me than ever before._

* * *

><p>The morning came peeping into the window, eager to spread it's light. Dyna groaned, and sat up, his usually wavy cerulean hair now a maelstrom that swirled around his head. Not wanting to take the time to fix it manually, Dyna opened the player's menu and selected a default hairstyle that had the same length as he liked. Instantly, his hair altered itself to match it, and then Dyna toggled the style off, and his hair fell back into place, falling onto his face. He swept back the stray lengths obscuring his face to a place where he knew they would stay. It was an easy trick that most players figured out to save time preparing themselves, one Dyna had seen unprepared players do when rushed.<p>

He opened his inventory, and selected his weapon for the day. He decided to use a lower level weapon that he had gotten on floor 40, the Steel Judicator. Instantly, a shining steel sword appeared in his hand, and Dyna swung it around to make sure he got a feel for it again, and looked at it's stats.

Unlike other swords at the same level as the Steel Judicator, the sword did not have any particular special ability other than "This sword ignores 9% of physical resistance", but the blade had generally higher statistics than other blades from floor 40, and it even offered two enhancement slots as well as customizability of the sword itself. Dyna had made the hilt long, but not long enough to qualify it as a 2 handed sword. He personally liked having as long of a hilt as he could so his time to unsheathe his sword could be quicker, among other things.

While he would be lowering his damage output, he wasn't taking any chances with his protection. He put on his Coat of Waves, a deep crimson surcoat that flared out in the back, ocean blue edges gilding the red. He looped Steel Judicator to his waist, and walked down the stairs back to the living room.

There, Lancelot awaited him, similarly dressed for combat. His dark hair was swept back, much like Dyna's, but Dyna knew that by the end of the day, his hair would already be reverted back to it's messy, curly state. Lancelot's armor was it's signature white, but he had a dark shield that had a lion's head emblazoned in brilliant silver. His weapon, a lance, was a spear that dully gleamed in the lazy light, it's pearl haft offset by the dark steel head. A one handed longsword rested at this left side, with a black hilt. Nodding towards Dyna, he greeted him as he came down from the stairs.

"Good morning! Are you ready?"

The swordsman nodded, and looked around. "Where is everyone?" He asked this out of curiosity and wariness for BlackAsp. Being paralyzed was a shaking experience, one that Dyna didn't wish to repeat.

"They all left earlier, after pairing off. I was the odd one out, so I waited for you."

Stepping onto the ground floor, Dyna raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"You let me sleep in? I wouldn't have minded it if you had gotten me up earlier."

"I wanted you awake for your first day. Also, I wanted to take the time to make sure we had everything we needed."

He gestured over to pile of items, which consisted primarily of healing potions and two spare swords. Throwing one of the spares over to Dyna once he had a look at everything, Lancelot started to put all of the items into his inventory, the items disappearing one by one.

* * *

><p>Soon, they headed out the door, and out of the town.<p>

The surrounding area was dominated by giant fir trees, their needles bristling out to give the entire forest a hazy look. Occasion spurts of mottled trails went into the forest, and the pair went in, weapons bared.

The first monster they encountered was an enormous bull with crimson eyes. Instantly it turned to charge Dyna, enraged by his red coat, drawing instant aggro.

How cliché, thought Dyna. He had heard somewhere that moving around erratically actually drew bulls to charge, not the color red. Jumping out of the way neatly, he attacked as it passed by, taking a fair chunk of it's hit points. Lancelot engaged a skill with his lance, Lightning Jab, and took less out of it's HP, the bar dropping down to yellow as the charged lance plunged into the steer.

Strange, Dyna thought again. Usually, skills dealt more damage than normal attacks. The bull turned to charge Dyna again, and this time he jumped and slashed across it's back, dropping the HP bar into the red zone, indicating that it was almost dead. Lancelot, recovering from his cool down from his skill, engaged another, Vertical, the spear head glowing an angry red as it hit the bull. With a loud bellow, the bull dissipated into green pieces of data.

A rewards window appeared in front of Dyna, but he almost absentmindedly clicked the accept button, as the gold and XP wasn't that much to him, because of his higher level. However, an odd sound emanated from Lancelot.

A level up, already? Dyna looked at Lancelot, and looked down his stats as he decided which of the three stat points would go where in his stat block.

"You're level 31?!"

Dyna couldn't help his outburst. The incredulity of the situation had caught him off guard. It was recommended in the player's handbook that before entering a floor, one was at least the same level as the floor, if not more. And that was before anyone knew that Sword Art Online was a death game. The weakest wandering monsters were then an equal challenge, and one could progress on the floor, gaining enough experience for the next level. Higher level players had to grind on the highest level they could handle in order to be able to go to the next floor confident they could handle any surprises it offered. Some prolific players, like Heathcliff and Asuna of the Knights of the Blood Oath, could grind on the highest floor, which was floor 45, to retain their edge while clearing the game. Dyna was almost to that point, but he had wanted to play it safe as they approached floor 50. There were rumors that since floor 25 had a very challenging boss, floor 50 would be the same difficulty for even higher level players.

Lancelot broke his rushing thoughts with a collected nod.

"Yes. Don't speak of it to anyone aside from BlackAsp. Only high end equipment has kept me from dying, but it has also helped that we haven't really gone out to farm for equipment in the past few weeks. I also carry most of the healing potions, so I can take care of myself."

"But that's reckless! What would everyone do if you died?!"

Lancelot placed his hand on his party mate's shoulder to calm Dyna.

"BlackAsp will decide who would take charge in that case. But that's not going to happen. This is one of the reasons I wanted you specifically, Dyna. Your dedication to leveling is well known, and I figured that you would be the best person to level with."

Still shaken by this revelation, Dyna pulled away, and turned to find the next wandering monster, trying to gather his thoughts. Why would Lancelot keep this secret? It was important to know that one could depend off of others, as far as the solo player knew, which wasn't extensive. The guild did not need a party leader that badly, did they?

Almost as he had asked the question, he knew that they actually did. Based on what he saw of them yesterday, all of the players had some flaw to their character that would make them ill suited to leading others.

Rockblade was too stubborn, and critical. Tysandra didn't have a very outgoing personality. BlackAsp was a free loader. And Alana depended off of others far too much. Lancelot was probably the only reason they stayed together.

After not much happening, Dyna confronted his new leader, by turning to him in the cover of the trees, their branches arcing down to make a thorny wall.

"... I want to know everything about you. I don't like secrets being kept from me."

The white knight bobbed his head in understanding.

"I suppose that's not too much to ask. Perhaps I would too, considering your viewpoint. Very well. I should start with the reason why I have such a low level."

He sat, crossing his legs, and looked to the sky, his eyes narrowing as he called back visions from the past.

"As I went through the game, I was a clearer out of fear of the first few levels. I wasn't that familiar with games like this, and so I made sure I was getting ahead of everyone else, but there were others. My first guildmate was Heathcliff."

Dyna nearly fell down, trying to grasp what he had just said.

"What?! THE Heathcliff? The leader of the most powerful guild, the Knights of Blood?"

Lancelot held up his hand, and dismissed the awe.

"He started at the same state we were. He's human, just like you and me. I formed a party with him, and then we seemed to keep bumping into each other. We both noticed this, so I joined his guild as a good friend. I learned much from him, about how to lead and delegate responsibility. I even led my own raid party, and for a while, things seemed easy."

He looked around, almost guiltily, but he turned once more to face his questioner.

"Heathcliff told me that as the guild got bigger, we would need more room for our branches, and eventually we would clash with other guild interests. So, I was in charge of the lower levels, ensuring that we had influence in the area. I dealt more with players than monsters, and I'm afraid there's no experience to be gained that way. But I didn't mind. Even if I was lower level, I still was supported by the KoB. But then I met Alana-"

He was stopped by a yell for help, just beyond the wall. A man dressed in green robes was being attacked by a dark rider that lacked a head, atop of a nightmarish mount that was a twisted version of the familiar horse, it's legs so supple they seemed to be only sticks. The rider's spear had a bloodstained head, and the monster slowly trotted towards the man, relishing the fear he emanated.

Already, Dyna knew what this was. He whispered to Lancelot, who had drawn his sword and shield.

"That's a very good quest over there. If I remember right, there's good equipment at the end of this quest, as well as a hefty experience gain. Do you want to do it?"

His leader nodded, and they charged. Dyna went in first, so he was the first one to draw aggro from the black rider. His aggro skill was particularly high as he has had to draw monsters from other players that wanted the experience defeating them offered.

If he remembered correctly, this monster was significantly tougher than what they had encountered before, with improved statistics and a better AI. Dyna thought there was a rare drop associated with this monster, but he decided not to try it. Rare drops were hard to obtain, and required much more skill in calculating what the percent chance was, and luck to even run into the monster in the first place. On the first floor, there were specific spawn points for specific monsters, so players knew what would come out, but as the floors progressed the spawn points were increasingly harder to find, and areas were often overlapped by how far monsters would go, with increasingly complex wandering patterns. Dyna hadn't done this quest, but it seemed that the wandering pattern of the NPC and the black cavalier needed to coincide with each other, and the players couldn't know where that was until it happened. A lucky quest, it seemed.

Dyna activated a sword skill, his blade blazing indigo as he said the skill. "Cross Slash!"

His arm seemed to blur as he scored perpendicular slashes onto the monster, the skill giving him inhuman speed and power. He froze as he landed, the skills cooldown taking place, which involved a stopping period as well as a timer before he could use it again. He shouted "Switch!" and he was moved off to the side as Lancelot was pushed forward. The monster hesitated, trying to process the change in fighting style, and as it did, Lancelot swung his sword without using a skill and scored two more slashes into the monster. It's health bar flashed into the yellow, and the the horse disappeared in an explosion of green pixels. The rider remained, and the empty space where the head was burst into blue flame, and an impression of a skull showed through. Gone was the lance, a black longsword pulled out. The NPC whimpered once more, but Dyna re-engaged the monster. It was odd that the rider had two different styles, but perhaps that was because the horse had taken the burnt of the damage.

He didn't activate a sword skill this time, but just used his speed to slash into the rider, taking the HP bar down to the red zone. He took a hit in return, but he wasn't particularly fazed. His HP Regeneration was much higher than what damage the monster could deal out, and already the reduced pain of getting hit faded away. Lancelot once again finished the monster with a sword skill, and he turned around, and accepted the reward. This time he didn't level up, but Dyna would bet that he was already close.

The NPC stood up shakily, and bowed to them, and thanked them for saving him. Soon, he offered a quest the both of them, and it primarily involved fighting more monsters in exchange for a quest reward of the treasure they guarded, the blade Night Thorn. Dyna was a little anxious that it was a slayer quest, but he figured that he could handle anything that came their way. To be safe, he reselected his highest level weapon, Red Crest, to ensure that he could make an even bigger difference. The plain sword replaced Steel Judicator at his hip, and he nodded. They walked over to where the village was.

Comprised of mostly NPC's, there were even some players that had decided to make their home at the village that came out to see the newcomers. There was a floating display at the gates that said 'Ready?' with a yes/no option at the bottom. Nodding, Lancelot and Dyna drew their swords before they pressed yes. Interested players also drew their weapons, familiar enough with living around the quest area to know that some free experience could be earned.

Like shadows in the night, the riders came barreling from the cover of the trees, their nightmarish mounts frothing at the mouth, ready to kill. There was hardly a heart beat or two before they were close enough to lash out with their lances. Dyna avoided the lance by jumping to the side, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lancelot giving a glancing deflect to the rider that had singled him out.

Reengaged into the fray, Dyna lashed out with his blade, and slashed at the horse again, as it was the only thing really in reach. The HP bar barely went down, and Dyna gasped as the monster hit him, catching his shoulder with his lance. He saw his HP go down much more rapidly than before, and by golly, it hurt even by SAO standards. Dyna didn't understand; without fail, monsters on lower levels, meant to challenge players of equal level, would not be able to endanger higher level players. He activated a very fast sword skill, and his blade burned with purple wrath as he used Blood Crescent, a skill that included bleed damage, which took away from the HP bar over a period of 30 seconds. He hated to use swords skills on one on one combat, but he felt he could take the punishment that would result.

As he was frozen, the monster hit him with the spear again, taking more HP. Then, he dropped the lance and pulled out a two handed blade of obsidian.

As Dyna saw his Hit Points drop even more, he decided that he couldn't take another chance like that, and he activated Hand and Half Sword ability by grasping the elongated hilt with both of his hands. A wide variety of sword skills presented themselves in his mind, and he charged, slashing at horse with a horizontal skill, but he jerked the blade out of the preset path to a different stance, and instead of a cooldown, he instead engaged into a different skill. Alternating from an angry red to a blazing gold, he leapt up with an uppercut and came down, impaling the rider. Impaling a monster was rare, as often they were larger creatures than the sword could handle. The system saw sword strikes as they hit the surface, and since the sword could go through to hit two points of the monster, it registered as double damage every time the system checked for damage, which was every 1 and a half seconds. Speculation between players thought this delay in the system meant that the fastest combo had only one and a half second between strikes, but no one aside from the Lightning Flash or the Black Swordsman could even think of achieving that speed between strikes.

The double damage was too much for the monster as it tried in vain to lash out, although a strike or two went through to send Dyna's HP bar almost into the yellow zone. Both the rider and the horse disappeared in verdant hues bursting out. As Dyna turned to help Lancelot with what was an undoubtedly impossible challenge, he was greeted by the sight of the man defeating his own headless horseman which shattered into similar green shapes. Other players with the aid of NPCs finished likewise, and the man in green robes from before came out of the crowd, and thanked them. He pulled out the 2 handed sword from before, and handed it to Dyna, saying it was the Black Thorn. Upon further inspection, it was a wide bladed sword that tapered off to a fine point, with a motif of roses decorating the hilt and going along the blade. He put it into his inventory. If it had any enhancement slots, he would consider keeping it.

A rewards window popped up in front of the pair again, as well as the other players that had participated. Dyna paid more attention to the window this time, and what he saw made him blink his eyes in disbelief. The gold was nothing special, but the experience reward wasn't a set number, like it usually was. Instead, it was a percent.

One of the players noted his confusion, and spoke up.

"That's the special reward you get from saving Jouran earlier. It'll fill your XP up by 20% of what you need for the next level. Only seen it happen once per player, though..."

Clicking on the accept button, Dyna heard a very unexpected sound.

Ding.

He had leveled up, and the level up screen appeared before him, waiting for values to be upgraded. The azure swordsman certainly didn't expect this. He would have had to grind for experience for months on end on this floor to even make progress to level 64. And yet, here he was. Dyna put all three points allotted into Agility to help him be faster and avoid more blows. After taking care of that, he turned to Lancelot, who was busy healing himself.

"Let's take a break. We'll use our teleporting crystals."

After a nod, Lancelot pulled out his own teleportation crystal, that returned them to the main town. They were invaluable to any player who needed to get back after a particularly unlucky fight and would not prefer to take his chances with any wandering monsters.

* * *

><p>The pair sat down back at the guild house, appraising Black Thorn as well as discussing what had happened. Lancelot asked the obvious question.<p>

"What was that back there? I thought you only used one handed swords, but that was a two hand skill, if I ever saw one."

Dyna sighed. He had hoped to keep his skill private, but after Lancelot had shared so much with him, how could he refuse him?

"It's the Hand and a Half skill. I unlocked it by having both one handed swords and two handed swords at skill level 50 at the same time. I tried to keep the two close in case I found a good weapon with either, and it just happened. Do you know the dummy swords?"

Dyna spoke of the swords that were present on every level. They weren't two handed swords, but were one handed swords with longer blades. The longer reach, however, came with less damage output and they were generally inferior to the effectiveness of the one handed sword and were out-powered by the two handed swords, leaving players to dub them dummy swords and leave them.

"Yes?"

"They are simply hand and a half swords without the proper hilt. It's an easy forge check to edit the hilt, but using them as one handed swords would still be too heavy to be practical without the Hand and a Half skill. You can alternate between holds to maximize the effective damage per second by using one handed sword skills to get in quick hits while the two handed skills and deal more damage with the two handed sword skills."

Dyna illustrated as he spoke with his hands, holding an imaginary blade and swinging it around. Lancelot nodded. It was believable.

"Now... How about using two consecutive skills? Is that an Out System skill?"

An Out System skill was a skill that players used to take advantage of the system's limitations to get an edge over other players. Generally, they were regarded as dirty, but effective tricks that people like betas and cheaters (sometimes combined into the term 'beater') used. Dyna nodded.

"It's called the skill connect. You have to jerk into another position before the cooldown sets in to get another skill. It's tricky to time, as some skills are faster than others. I can teach you, if you want. It's very useful."

Lancelot nodded his head, assenting the offer.

"I'll be sure to ask if I want to know. However, let's call it a day. We've both leveled up, and so at this rate, we'll be there in no time."

Dyna smiled at how strange the feeling of waiting around was. It almost felt wrong, but he would be the first to admit that he needed a break after waking up from an actual bed instead of a bunk this morning.

Once again, the two merely talked. The subject was slippery and the thoughts not very profound, and yet by the end of the day, Dyna felt that he trusted Lancelot, even if he would be weak in a fight. It was a strange feeling, and although the feeling of being a stranger persisted, it no longer detracted from him with nervousness. He felt as though he truly belonged here, if but for a moment.

The door reopened to permit Tysandra and Alana. Smiling broadly, Alana went to Lancelot, their armor clanking as they shared a hug. Tysandra gave a cool smirk as she reported their day.

"Both Alana and I gained one level, although it will still be some time before we do so again. We'll need to grind on a higher floor if we want to progress quickly."

Lancelot released Alana as he smiled and nodded.

"Very good. We're making great progress."

The man turned around, and went to the kitchen, presumably to prepare dinner. Alana followed him in after changing out of her armor. She wore a simple sweater and a pair of slacks, covering her form of a slight girl, a seeming contrast to the bulkiness her armor gave her.

_Then I met Alana,_ Lancelot had said before he was cut off. What was their connection? They certainly weren't a couple. Alana seemed too young and Lancelot seemed too focused on other things.

Dyna didn't know the answer. But, then again, it had only been a day. He would simply have to wait, and hope the answer revealed itself. Impulsively, however, he decided that he would ask Alana tomorrow, and hear her side.

Lost in what he would do tomorrow, Dyna decided to rest for a small time, and he ascended up into Lancelot's room. He opened the door, and walked in. The room was undisturbed, but yet Dyna felt his neck prickle. He closed the door, and walked to his bed, and as he turned around to sit down, he heard a quiet thump as BlackAsp landed in front of him.

To say the swordsman flinched would be an understatement.

From where he had bee sitting down, he had jumped back in fear to almost halfway down the bed, his arms up to protect him from any darts that would emanate from the cloaked figure.

Reacting oppositely, the player in black walked up and leaned in to shorten only the distance between their faces, gazes locking between them.

Those uninterested, careless eyes seemed focused at last as BlackAsp glanced up the newcomer once again, but this time he seemed to be looking for something else. Oddly, Dyna smelt a very faint smell of oranges emanating from his intruder. The two stood there, in an awkward pause until BlackAsp finally backed away with two steps.

"I take it you know the truth about our knight in shining armor?"

"Er, Ye-."

"Good. You're in an exclusive club, then. I've done my homework on you, Dyna, Wave Edge."

Dyna tensed. What did he have to say? Obviously, if he said anything wrong he would regret it later, so he kept silent as BlackAsp continued to speak.

"I have to say, you have been quite the hermit for the past year. More people knew you as 'that one guy who grinds' than people that knew you by your title, and there was only three who actually knew your username. But you are quite famous, even in passing. I suppose when you're at your level, that's inevitable."

Dyna finally mustered the courage to speak.

"What are you trying to say?"

The sneak merely raised his eyebrow.

"Me? Nothing, really. Just that I'll be getting to know who you've been for the past year or so. When I said that I was a technical fighter, I should have included that I'm not restricted to combat alone. It's my business to outsmart anyone, even my own friends. Right now, I'm just gathering information so you can be of use in this party."

"So I can be of use?" Dyna repeated, still quite stupefied at the sudden appearance.

BlackAsp rolled his eyes, as if he got this reaction a lot.

"How else are you going to help out the entire party? You should have realized that when you joined."

He sighed in exasperation.

"You'll find your place eventually, I hope. Well... No, you will. Do try to surprise me, will you? I like it when I'm surprised. Good night."

And like that, he turned to leave the room. Dyna blinked. What had just happened? The player in black was still full of surprises, as he proved by turning around and throwing another dart. Dyna managed to dodge this one, and it thudded into the bed post.

"Hm. You've put points into Agility, it seems. Good to know."

With that, he was gone.

Dyna exhaled the held breath that he had clung to when he saw BlackAsp. Downstairs, he heard Rockblades bellowing voice, and all of a sudden, Dyna came to a realization.

The Full Plate guild was more than a party that trained to stay alive together. They were a family, where all of the members watched out for each other, in all aspects of the game.

And he had just become a member of that trust.

Dyna hoped that it wouldn't crush him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hello everyone! With this update, I forward the plot! A mite. Anyway, let me just come out and say it- I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when you guys leave reviews! The only thing that will make it better would be stated in this verbal equation. The amount of excitement from a review is directly proportional to the length and depth of the review. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate the support, because I love it when there are comments about my work! What are your thoughts on what might happen soon? Later? What do you want to see out of these characters? I have all of these questions and more.<strong>

**Also, now I know how to post a chapter properly.**


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting

_I leveled with Alana today, as I had vowed to myself yesterday. Strangely, she did not want to talk about the subject of Lancelot, and instead wanted to know more about me. Perhaps I was too hasty to try pursuing my leader's background. Perhaps I can learn more from hearsay and circumstance._

_Coincidence is a strange thing. Back where I am from, there was a religious community that blamed all lucky coincidences to be the divine hand of a god working his great mysteries, but I didn't pay them much heed. Luck was cruel, and at the same time rewarding. How could a being control that? Inside, I curse whatever deific personage that would allow for SAO to happen, but I guess that it is only the people themselves that hold that kind of power._

_Cursing aside, this talk of fortune reminds me of the time I met Isha._

* * *

><p>Red faded away from the sky as the amassed people stood in shocked silence.<p>

Immediately, that changed as the panic set is. Dyna could scarcely believe the change. Some shouted, some cursed. Most cried in agony that they would not get back home. Dyna felt like running, but there was not enough room. He would have to wait, and sort out his own feelings as he did.

What could he do? He had no advantage. He was barely the legal age limit. This was his first time even outside of a book, as he constantly engrossed himself in subjects of all matters. What good would any of that do for him?

As people surged around him, trying to escape the nightmare, he remembered one source of wisdom: The player's beta manual. Pulling it out from his items, the leather bound book was hardly thick. The gold edged bindings actually concealed a wealth of information that seemed dizzying. Three hundred betas had contributed to this book, and while they must have kept some secrets to themselves, the book seemed to be Dyna's best chance. He had to know what to expect, and prepare accordingly. The crowd thinning at last, he ran for what would hopefully prove to be a quiet place, the Rebirth Chamber, which was now useless. People would probably steer clear from the reminder that the chamber would not give them new life after their brains were destroyed by the NerveGear.

Dyna was wrong. There were people there, but they only seemed to be interesting in hoping against hope. They blankly stood, trying to will the situation away. There were some loud sobs, and Dyna entered the empty chamber. He took a place by the edge of the arena and sat, and started to do what he could do best.

Read.

The outside noise died as time drew long, the grim fate laying itself upon everyone. There was no escape.

* * *

><p>Night reigned when Dyna mulled himself out of his state of intense focus. He would have kept going, but his mind assured itself that he was starving beyond belief. In truth, he did not need food, as there were no penalties associated with hunger, but the norm of over a decade and a half demanded to be satisfied. Looking up, Dyna spied one person in the chamber with him.<p>

His mind fresh with how the interface worked, he quickly looked down everything that could been seen in passing. A player, with a green cursor. She hadn't committed any crimes. She was of an ideal build, with enough slightness to make her seem small, but not enough to call her away from attention. She seemed to tower over Dyna, but as he stood up, he saw that she was around the same height as him, perhaps a little taller. Her hair was a midnight black, and eyes unlike Dyna had ever seen. They were a milky white, with only the impression of a pupil in the white lake of her eyes.

Was she blind?

She quickly answered that question by turning around and narrowing her gaze at the red swordsman. She held up her own copy of the manual, but the cover hadn't even been opened once, judging from the seal on the front.

"What is this that you're so interested in?"

Dyna was taken aback. He thought everyone knew what the beta manual was. And if this lady had already discovered how to change her eye color (that was the only way Dyna could think of at this stage in the game to get that white color, as players could still alter eye color and hair color.) then why would she need him to explain what the manual was? He was so busy thinking that he stayed silent.

"What? I asked you a question! What is this book?"

She doesn't know, Dyna thought, still shocked.

"It's the beta manual. It has everything that the beta players experienced during the beta of the game. Are you...?"

Instantly, the girl seemed affronted, turning on him.

"For heaven's sake, I am not blind! I can see you perfectly fine!"

Dyna held up his hands in fear, and the threat seemed only passing. He wasn't the first, it seemed. She held the book in front of him. It was then that Dyna noted that it was upside down.

"How can I trust you? Well... I was a little rude. My name is Isha. What is yours?"

"Dyna. And... It doesn't matter if you trust me or not. I'm being honest."

The narrow gazed woman scrutinized him, her hazy eyes all too focused on his eyes. She pulled away, and spoke once more.

"I don't think I've seen anyone as interested as you are in that book. What does it say... Here?"

She opened to a random page, to an entry about the third floor quests.

"Well... There's a quest where you have to kill so many monsters to collect their horns to get a certain item-"

She flipped to another random page, and showed it to him, but then closed the book. It was lucky that she had it upside down, otherwise reading it would have been hard.

"There's a quest down here on the first floor that drops a very nice longsword with three enchantment slots-"

Isha tensed up, and slammed the book shut. The disturbed air brushed back Dyna's hair as he tensed back, expecting a strike. He couldn't lose life points in the city limits, but things could still hurt.

"... Form a party with me, please!"

She seemed to beg the question with an unnecessary bow, and Dyna was caught off guard.

"Wait... What?!"

She opened up her menu, and after some guesswork with the button icons, she found the invitation, and sent one to her new-found companion.

Unsure whether or not to be glad that she wasn't shouting at him or scared at her sudden request, Dyna clicked the accept button. Her health bar came into view, and with it her level. She was already level 3, which was very good progression for the first day. Looking at her again, he realized that she had the sword in question that was in the entry.

"You're still level 1? Even with everything that's happened?"

Deciding that he's taken enough from her, Dyna returned the question with an annoyed response.

"You're level 3 and you don't know what the player's beta manual is?"

"Hey!"

Dyna regretted his anger quickly. His first party member, and already they were insulting each other.

"Sorry... What do you want to do? It's getting pretty late."

Isha huffed, but accepted his apology by answering in a more receptive tone.

"Well, before anything else, we'll be getting you some more experience. I will not have you be dying on me."

She turned to leave the chamber, and soon Dyna was trying to follow her brisk pace. The player was unsure what monsters would be out at different times, but he did read that there would be more Kobolds than boars, and Kobolds boasted a slightly harder difficulty at the risk of better rewards. However, with their lives at stake, Dyna felt that no reward was worth getting killed. He knew how to fight, but he had only done so to try it out. He had wanted to experience everything he could before his curfew of nine o' clock, but now that didn't matter. Right now, it was ten. How were his parents reacting? His younger brother? Would they attempt to remove the helmet, and kill him in doing so? Dyna took comfort in the thought that if they would have tried, they would have by now. They must have had the news on and were warned about the consequences.

* * *

><p>The pair traversed the trails, the night surprisingly quiet. What monsters they did encounter were Kobolds, as promised. Isha was very good about letting Dyna get the kills so he could gain the experience, and by one in the morning, he was at the same level as her. They were both undeniably tired, and they returned to town. Dyna turned to his companion, making out her face only by virtue of the lamps that dotted the streets.<p>

"Good night, Isha. See you tomorrow?"

"It is tomorrow already. How about in six hours?"

He nodded. "Fair enough. Meet me in the central square." He turned and headed for the Chamber of Rebirth. He had not planned on staying, and with over nine thousand players in the city, finding a room in an inn was bound to be impossible. It would be easier just to find some shelter and call it a night.

Well, morning, technically.

* * *

><p>Finding Isha wasn't hard. In fact, she was the one who woke Dyna up, her angry visage the first thing he saw.<p>

"What are you doing?! You promised you'd come to the central square in six hours! It's eight thirty!"

Dyna woke up from his slumber with a messy bed head, and he picked himself up from the floor. He was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. He stood up to be dragged by the hand, following Isha's speed haphazardly. Once he really came to, he stopped as they were about to leave town.

"One thing before we leave. You were blind."

Almost lashing out again, Isha raised her hand to slap him, but stopped as she registered what he said. Lowering her hand, she shifted away, uncomfortable at the mention of her past. Dyna walked towards her to keep her from getting away.

"That's why you wanted me to read to you. And why you're so defensive. And it would certainly explain your eye color. But I want to tell you that it's okay."

She stopped.

"You helped me last night, and to be honest, I probably would still be reading that book if you hadn't interrupted. Thank you."

She spoke at last.

"The sight of you reading... It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time. But nothing's in Braille. Can you teach me?"

Dyna nodded. How could he say no? It wasn't as if another team member was going to knock down his door like she did. And it would sure beat being on his own as he invariably ended up. However, as Isha said, it was eight thirty. They would need to get going wherever they needed to quickly.

"Let's stick together, alright?"

Isha nodded as she left town, with Dyna following her.

A blind woman and a man who does nothing but read. Not a stranger coincidence had ever occurred, but it was the start of something good. Dyna could already tell.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Another chapter! I messed up on the word count and so things got a little skiwompus and short. But I would love to hear what you guys think! Isha is a very new character, but when I thought of her, I knew that she had to be included in this fic. Expect these kinds of flashbacks to happen every third chapter, as I flesh her out more, as she's very related to Dyna, and he's sort of the main protagonist. Don't worry about the other characters, though! They'll get their chance! As always, read and review when you have a chance! Also, who would like to see a Christmas chapter? P.S. There will also be cover art coming up. I'm not great, but it's on the way!**


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